The Temecula Sprouts is seeking an injunction forbidding theother company from using the Sprouts name where the two businessescompete. A hearing on the request is set for Dec. 29 in RiversideSuperior Court.

Kim Rockley, a spokeswoman for Sprouts Farmers Market, did notreturn phone calls or respond to emails seeking comment on thelawsuit.

After the Sprouts Farmers Market chain began rebranding Henry'snatural foods stores in the region as Sprouts earlier this year,the Temecula Sprouts "began experiencing significant and increasingconsumer confusion regarding the similarity in names," the lawsuitstates. "Confused customers of Sprouts have asked questionsrelating to whether Sprouts was changing the store name, whetherSprouts was buying Henry's, if Sprouts' customer service willchange after the merger, and 'when' Sprouts will be closing."

In addition, the lawsuit states, deliveries and bills intendedfor the Temecula Sprouts have ended up at the other Sprouts, andvice versa. The Arizona-based Sprouts operates two stores inTemecula.

The two Sprouts companies didn't cross paths until theArizona-based chain entered the region in the past 18 months,according to the lawsuit.

Customers of Sprouts Natural Market began getting confused whenSprouts Farmers Market entered the area and began converting itsHenry's-branded stores into Sprouts, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit says that the store had been operating for 20 yearsin the Temecula area and that the new entrant is causing confusionamong customers.

The conversion of Henry's to Sprouts is a follow-up to amergerof the Henry's natural foods chain with Sprouts FarmersMarket this year.

Both natural food stores were founded by the well-known Boneyfamily of San Diego. Henry's had been sold by the family in 1999 tothe first in a series of corporate owners. Sprouts, founded in 2002by Stan and Shon Boney, remained within the Boney family.

In January, the companies merged, creating a chain with 98stores and $1 billion in revenue. The Boneys sold Henry's to theprivate equity firm Apollo Management, the latest corporate ownerof Sprouts Farmers Market.

Under the merger, the Boneys acquired a minority equity stake inthe combined company, which took the Sprouts Farmers Market name.The stores from the Henry's side of the merger are being rebrandedas Sprouts. It's this rebranding that the lawsuit said is confusingto customers of Sprouts Natural Market in Temecula.

In the lawsuit, the Temecula Sprouts described a history datingto 1989, when Linda Watson and son Paul Cook founded what was thenknown as Health Zone Natural Foods LLC. The company changed itsname to Sprouts Natural Market in 2001, filing a fictitiousbusiness name statement on Sept. 25 of that year.